Home minister warns of more islands being lost

Home minister warns of more islands being lost

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Smarting over the loss of the islands of Sipadan and Ligitan,
home minister Hari Sabarno suggested the country exercise its
sovereignty over remote islands by increasing its presence on
these islands.

Hari said Indonesian sovereignty could be represented by
monuments, security officers and communities of Indonesian
citizens.

"The government, through the regional administrations
overseeing outlying islands, must maintain the country's
sovereignty through whatever means necessary to demonstrate this
sovereignty. Otherwise, there will be more Sipadan-Ligitan
cases," he said after opening a discussion titled Political
Reflection and International Affairs here on Thursday.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague voted
overwhelmingly in favor of Malaysia on Tuesday as the sovereign
owner of the islands, located on the northernmost tip of East
Kalimantan. The decision ended a three-decade-long legal battle
between the neighboring Southeast Asian countries.

Hari said it was necessary for security forces to conduct
patrols of the country's remote islands to ensure other parties
did not attempt to seize the islands.

"If there is any attempt to annex islands, the country has the
right to file a lawsuit based on legal or politics reasons. The
suit could be settled through international law or bilateral
cooperation."

There are at least 88 islands scattered across Riau, North
Sulawesi, Maluku, West and East Nusa Tenggara and Papua, which
are near neighboring ASEAN countries or Australia.

Most of these islands are neglected although they form part of
the country's border. One such island, according to the House of
Representatives, is Nipah in Riau.

Indonesia has over 17,000 islands, most of them uninhabited.

Hari said the country had neglected Sipadan and Ligitan, which
Malaysia took advantage of. Government regulation in lieu of law
No. 4/1960 on Indonesia's territorial waters failed even to
mention the islands, he said.

The International Court of Justice ruled that neither
Indonesia nor Malaysia had a title-based claim to the tiny
islands, but Kuala Lumpur had shown "manifestations of state
authority" over the islands, notably in the 1930s under British
rule, while Indonesia did not protest Malaysia's actions until
1969.

"The verdict is heartbreaking but that's the court's decision
and since 1997 both countries have been committed to settling the
dispute through the court," Hari said.